Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 8.djvu/387

Rh enough to be heard distinctly over the parishes of St. Anne, St. Andrew, and St. Peter; and, in calm evenings, as far as the parish of St. Mary, for the benefit of the graduates dwelling there: that the said bell, for greater solemnity, shall be christened, according to the rites and ceremonies of the Roman church; and that the godfathers shall be K. C. and M. J. and the godmothers L. M. and R. E. who shall call it The Great Tom of Quadrille: that the said bell shall be tolled by the butlers of St. Stephen's Green and Dawson Street, in their turns, beginning exactly a quarter before six in the evening, and ending precisely at six. In the mean time, all the little church bells shall cease their babblings, to the end Tom may be more distinctly heard.

And if, upon such legal notice, any lady of the party shall not be ready on the spot, to draw for her place before the last stroke of Tom, she shall lay down five shillings on the table, by way of fine, for the use of the poor of the parish, being protestants; or, on failure thereof, she shall not handle a card that night, but Dummy shall be substituted in her room.

And, that parties may not be disappointed, by excuses of a cold or other slight indispositions, when it is too late to beat up for a new recruit; it is proposed, that no such excuse shall be admitted, unless the same be certified under the hand of some graduate physician. Dr. Richard T always excepted: and for want of such certificate, the defaultress to be amerced, as aforesaid, at the next meeting. And it is farther proposed, that the said great